E.J. (Scotty) Gall

Abstract

The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) had been in the North for centuries and continued to play a dominant role in the period following World War I. Scotty Gall, an 18-year-old growing up just outside Aberdeen, Scotland, decided there must be a greater future for him than working in a local foundry. So he applied for an apprenticeship with the HBC and came to Canada in 1923. This was the beginning of Gall's career in the North, which lasted until his retirement in 1966. ... Navigating the Northwest Passage in 1937 was a feat still unknown to most Canadians. The more publicized trip of the St. Roch, the RCMP ship, in 1942, is generally regarded as the first Canadian transit through the Passage. However, Scotty Gall piloted the HBC ship Aklavik through the Passage in the course of dropping supplies to HBC posts in 1937. He admits his trip was not publicized because individuals with the Bay at the time did not see that it was in their interest to publicize anything in the North. The trip of the Aklavik required a great deal of preparation at its home port of Cambridge Bay. The crew had to prepared, for example, to spend the winter away from home if caught in the ice. The big drop of trading goods on this trip in late 1937 was to be at Gjoa Haven on King William Island, and then the target was to transit the Northwest Passage - Bellot Strait, on this occasion - by 1 September, before freeze-up. ... The Aklavik was 60 feet (20 metres) in length and drew 6 feet (2 metres) of water. It was powered by a 35 hp Fairbanks-Morse engine. While it was not a particularly good freighter, carrying only 40-50 tons of cargo, it was considered an excellent vessel for the Arctic. A few years after the 1937 trip, the Aklavik caught fire and sank off Cambridge Bay. The voyage itself should be considered in context. It occurred before ships were equipped with radar. At the time, navigation was done by what Gall calls "instinct." ... Over the years his accomplishments have been a part of the history of the North. One of these accomplishments, his trip through the Northwest Passage in 1937, may be one of the best kept secrets in Canada. ...